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TORONTO 鈥 There was an air of inevitability to Victoria swimmer Ryan Cochrane鈥檚 gold medal in the 2015 Pan American Games on Saturday.
The men鈥檚 1,500-metre freestyle was about as sure a thing as there is in these Games. There is only one man who can beat Cochrane in this event 鈥 world-record holder Sun Yang, and China is obviously not in the Pan Am Games.
So two-time Olympic-medallist Cochrane had to motivate himself, which he did in a Games-record clocking of 15 minutes, 06.40 seconds for victory, laying waste to the old standard of 15:12.33 set by American Chip Peterson at the 2007 Rio Games. Silver-medallist Andrew Gemmell of the U.S. was across more than three seconds later, in 15:09.92.
鈥淭he time tonight was not as important as good tactics,鈥 Cochrane said poolside following the race.
鈥淭o go under 15 minutes, you need to be pushed by your competitors.鈥
Cochrane led wire-to-wire.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to lead from the start to state my dominance early and scare off the competitors.鈥
This week was all about balance.
鈥淒oing the 400 metres [in which Cochrane also won gold on Friday night] followed by the 1,500 the next day is not easy. This means good things in a couple of weeks [at the 2015 FINA world aquatics championships in Kazan, Russia],鈥 Cochrane said.
鈥淚鈥檝e had rib problems and I wanted to get back to a good stroke.鈥
Which he did.
鈥淚 am not good at swimming when not being pushed, but not being pushed is a terrible excuse,鈥 said Cochrane.
鈥淪o you focus on more of a technical swim.鈥
The Islander, however, was certainly spurred by a raucous home-nation crowd that created a terrific din in the packed Pan Am Games pool in Scarborough.
After the indifference and carping in the lead-up 鈥 Torontonians were openly questioning why their big-league city was hosting a secondary Games 鈥 they have surprised everybody by suddenly taking to these Games after two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria lit the flame to begin them.
It helps that a case is being made that this is a prelude to a potential Toronto bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Cochrane sees the throaty passion shown here for Canadian victories at all venues as part of a larger narrative that emerged after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics 鈥 which is that Canadians no longer apologize for striving to win and, in fact, have embraced it.
鈥淭his is how you create a competitive nation and we鈥檙e getting better at it,鈥 the Claremont Secondary graduate said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about being nice in sports. It鈥檚 about being at the top of the podium and hearing [your anthem].
This has been one of the best experiences of my life. It鈥檚 been so loud in here. I鈥檝e never experienced anything like this [home-crowd reception]. This is an experience I will be telling my kids about. I would rank it up there with my Olympic medals. You don鈥檛 get too many chances to race at home and hear 鈥楪o sa国际传媒 Go.鈥 鈥
Cochrane has a combined 20 career medals in the Olympics (two), FINA World Aquatics Championships (six), Commonwealth Games (four), Pan Pacific Championships (six) and Pan Am Games (two).
The Island, with more than 50 athletes in these Pan Am Games, continues to flex its reputation as a training hub for Canadian national-team athletes.
Cochrane鈥檚 victory on Saturday brought to 16 medals, including 12 golds, won in events across several sports featuring Island athletes over the first eight days of competition. They are chasing the 21 medals that Island athletes won at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
There鈥檚 no exact science in calculating such things, but if the Island was a separate country, it would be sixth in the overall 2015 Pan Am Games gold-medal standings, ahead of nations such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Jamaica, Panama, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and Paraguay.